


Tumblr Holiday Prompts

by karmarocks



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Sick Keith (Voltron), Sickfic, Sneezing, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-09 14:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12889518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karmarocks/pseuds/karmarocks
Summary: Here are the holiday prompts I've gotten so far!





	1. Feverish on the night before Christmas

“I’m ho-ome!” Lance sang, kicking the door shut behind him.

“How did we even forget cranberry sauce? It’s an essential part of Christmas dinner! You’re lucky I realized it before tomorrow because basically nothing is gonna be open!”

Keith winced at the grating sound of his boyfriend’s happy voice, but quickly smoothed his features out again, determined not to reveal how he was truly feeling and ruin his first Christmas with Lance.

Truthfully, he felt awful. Everything was sensitive. All the lights were too bright, the soft hum of Christmas music from the radio too loud, and even the soft sweater he was wearing to contain his chills felt rough and painful against his skin.

He ignored the lightheadedness he felt as he rose to greet Lance, and the crescendo of the ever-present ache in his head as he approached the chattering man, careful to avoid kissing anywhere near his nose and mouth in order to avoid contagion.

When Lance squeezed him in his arms he couldn’t help the grimace of pain that caused him to flinch back and away from his boyfriend.

Lance looked mildly concerned, but brushed it off as Keith’s usual moodiness. He’d never been very good at holidays. As he set about the kitchen to prepare food for the next day at Lance’s family’s house, he could hear the faint sounds of Keith doing his own thing in the apartment.

“ _hh…nh-ahktch! Hih! Hah-kchtch! Exgtchew!”_ Keith sniffled in the aftermath of the small fit, desperately hoping Lance had been too busy in the kitchen to realize that Keith was sneezing.

“Salud!” _Shit._

Keith only ever sneezed fittishly if he was sick, or so Lance told him. When he wasn’t sick his fits were more drawn out—much different from these harsh, wet outbursts that tumbled over themselves, as if his body couldn’t expel enough of the irritant at a time. Lance could always tell based on his sneezes whether Keith was coming down with something, the weirdo was basically psychic.

 It seemed like Lance hadn’t noticed yet though, thank goodness. He wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to keep up the charade though, what with their rapidly approaching car trip to Lance’s family’s home for Christmas day. They were to get up at 3 the next morning to drive 10 hours and hopefully make it there in time for a late lunch and spend the next few days with the family. Keith could do this. If he put his mind to it, he could make this illness go away before the morning.

 “Wonderful! I’m done with the casserole. We just have to pop it in the oven when we get there tomorrow! You wanna get ready for bed, hotshot? You look beat.”

Lance smirked at the way Keith jumped in surprise, then glared good-naturedly at his boyfriend. “As if, you’re the one driving tomorrow, so you get to sleep tonight. I’m going to get us packed.”

“Awww but I don’t wanna sleep aloneeee! It’s gonna be cold and lonely without you next to me.” Lance pouted, giving Keith a puppy dog face.

“Sorry, Lance, but you want to have gifts to give when we’re with your family, don’t you? I need to wrap the presents and get the rest of our stuff together. I’ll be there when you wake up, don’t worry.”

Lance, though still pouting, seemed satisfied with Keith’s answer, and Keith let out a small sigh of relief, which immediately caused a fit of grating coughs that he managed to swallow. He was thankful when the taller man didn’t seem to notice, and turned to leave after only a quick peck on the top of his head. Now, onto the issue of the evening, wrapping the presents. He pulled out the sodden tissue he’d hidden from Lance earlier and swiped at his nose, feeling a bit of moisture gathering there.

His shivering only increased as the night wore on, but he finally finished at 1:30 in the morning—the car was packed with their suitcases and the gifts, they had snacks for the road, and the coffee maker was set to make Lance’s morning coffee at the push of a button.

The sneezing had gotten worse as well, and Keith was thankful that Lance wore headphones to bed, because he could barely muffle the fits anymore.

“ _Hehh…uhh…hih! Hah! AxchSHhh! HhKshh! Hkshew!_ ”

He winced as the last one refused to allow itself to be stifled, ripping through his throat painfully on its way out as a punishment for the harsh treatment of its brethren.

He flopped onto the couch, pulling the small throw blanket they had resting there over himself in an attempt to ease some of his shivering. He could still get an hour or so of sleep if he could just…

“ _Hh-Heh’GkSHU!_ ”

Stop the itch in his nose…That one snuck up on him, and he absently swiped up the mess with another destroyed tissue. He’d only used a few, finding dryish spots to pinch-wipe his nose with since he couldn’t exactly use an entire box of tissues or Lance would notice both the absence of tissues in the box and the significant increase of used tissues in the trash. He noticed that kind of stuff unfortunately. Someone could light a small fire in the garbage can and Keith probably wouldn’t notice. He might notice a burning smell, but he wouldn’t care enough to investigate. Lance was just more perceptive, which was why Keith needed to be so careful. He achingly got up and threw the tissue away, deciding a fresh one wouldn’t be the end of the world, and rearranged the contents of the trash to hide it. It was gross, but it got the job done.

He dragged himself back to the couch, doing his best to cover himself with the blanket again, ignoring the small shivers he felt prickling their way through his skin again, and he soon fell into a restless sleep.

 He woke up feeling so much worse than before. Everything ached and he was shivering like mad, terrible prickles of fever shot up his nerves in his arms, causing him to groan a little. That was when he noticed Lance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quick Lance POV because screw it

Lance had awoken feeling sleepy but excited for the day to come. He was a bit disappointed that Keith hadn’t joined him in bed like he’d said he would, but kind of relieved because the movement definitely would have woken him up and he had a long day of driving ahead of him.

He trudged past the living room to make his coffee, delighted to find that Keith had prepared it for him already. He hit the button and shoved his travel mug underneath the machine, groggily watching the steaming caffeine fill his cup. As he took his first warming sip, it occurred to him that he should wake Keith so he could get dressed as well. As he moved towards the sleeping man, still cradling his mug, he noticed how uncomfortable Keith looked. He was flushed and shivering, the throw blanket tangled around his legs and his face was contorted in pain. Lance slowly approached him, knowing how light of a sleeper the other man could be, and touched his forehead lightly, tsking at the dry heat he felt. They wouldn’t be making it to the McClain family celebration of Christmas today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sí mamá… Él está enfermo… Tiene fiebre, sí…No… ¡No he dado nada a ello para la fiebre porque estaba durmiendo! Okay okay. Voy a-oh crap. Está despierto ahora…Te amo también. Voy a llamarte después de que he cuidado a mi novio.”

Keith blinked slowly in confusion at Lance’s rapid Spanish. Why weren’t they on the road? He sat up, attempting to stand, only to be pushed down by Lance’s soft hands.

“Wh-what-” he cut himself off, coughing deeply into his arm, tears pooling in his eyes. He’d ruined Christmas.

Lance noticed the guilt in Keith’s eyes and rushed to console him, “Keith, baby, it’s okay. We are going to have such a wonderful time here! I’ll take care of you here and we will go to my family’s house later in the week!”

“B-but… _Hh_... you said your abuela was only there for a- _ihh_ few days. You’re dot goig to be able to see her!” Keith wailed, or attempted to wail, his broken voice hitching throughout his speech, giving out on the last word and sending him into another coughing fit, which turned into a hitching buildup.

“ _Hih! Hehh-hhh…Hah-dkshCHUH! Ihkgshkk!_ ”

He panted after the short fit, cheeks glowing with fever and embarrassment as he tried to sniffle back the congestion he felt,

“Y-you cand just go without mbe, Lance. I don’t want you to mbiss seeig your abuela.”

Lance carefully took Keith’s face in his hands, lightening his touch when he saw the wince it caused, and forced Keith to look at him with tear-filled eyes.

“Listen to me. I’m not leaving you. Especially not when you’re like this, okay hon? I’m never going to leave you behind.”

Keith only sobbed harder, futilely scrubbing at his eyes with his sleeve,

“What’s wrong, baby?” Lance cooed.

“I-it’s just that I d-dod’t udderstad how I g-g-got so l-lucky.” Keith rasped between sobs and light hiccupping gasps for breath.

Lance smiled fondly, wrapping his shivering, sniffling mess of a boyfriend in his arms, snapping out of his reverie when he remembered the sickly heat that seemed to be coming off Keith in waves.

After making Keith take medicine, Lance carefully brought the dozing man to their shared bed, gently settling him under the blankets and curling up next to him.

 _Silent night…Holy night…_ Lance hummed along to the radio playing softly in the background, feeling his heart swell with warmth when Keith smiled and snuggled closer to him. Maybe missing Christmas back home wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. He glanced at the clock, which read 5:02 AM.

He’d call his mom back at a more reasonable hour.


	2. Nauseous in the car on the way to visit a loved one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was requested by a dear friend of mine. I'm still not the best at writing emeto, but I'll warn y'all that it is described(albeit not very well lol), so if you don't like that kind of thing you might wanna skip to the next one.   
> Basically the Broganes are on their way to visit the Holts for some kind of holiday, and Keith is v nauseous, the poor bab.

“ _What shall we do with a drunken sailor—_ ”

Keith groaned inwardly, Shiro’s favorite song was on and it was about to get very loud in the car. Loud noise didn’t seem very conducive to repressing the nausea he was currently feeling in the pit of his stomach and base of his throat.

Shiro had banished his younger brother to the back seat of the car in a pile of blankets with the strict order to “get some sleep.” Keith was coming down with a wicked bitch of a cold, and they both knew it because Shiro had gotten it first. As soon as Shiro got over it Keith began to feel the telltale signs of the sore throat and sniffliness that came with all of his colds, but being in the car on a windy road, doped up on cold meds, and nauseous to boot? It was just not Keith’s day.

He was downplaying his symptoms, trying to make Shiro feel less guilty for infecting the smaller man in his feverish haze. He hadn’t exactly been careful this time around, not on purpose of course, but that didn’t change the fact that Keith was getting sick and it was coming on quickly.

 He coughed lightly into his fist, not wanting to agitate his stomach or draw Shiro’s attention away from the song. Maybe if he just slept for a little while… he shut his eyes, snapping them back open when he found that that made him feel dizzy and the nausea grew worse. The overall ‘ick’ feeling of the illness he was currently suffering was not helping, and the congestion made it hard for him to take deep breaths to ward off the impending vomit he was about to suffer. He shut his eyes again, forcing himself into a state of half-sleep. He still felt sick to his stomach, but the vomit didn’t seem quite as near as it had when he was upright.

 Eventually he fell asleep, only to be rudely awoken by his own body. For a moment, he could only look around blearily, trying to assess why he’d woken up. Everything ached, his head throbbed, his stomach was in knots, and he felt the contents of his stomach once again making their ascent into his esophagus, “Sh-shiro _hrk_ -I need to-” he clamped his hand over his mouth, swallowing desperately to no avail. Luckily Shiro, who’d begun scanning the road for a safe spot to stop as soon as he’d heard Keith gag, was already almost to the side of the road. Keith leapt out of the car, legs getting knotted in the blankets on the way, which caused him to trip, the impact of falling face first onto the ground was too much for his beleaguered stomach, and he began to heave, tears streaming down his face as the bile burned his throat.

 He felt the warmth of Shiro’s good hand on his back, and though it was comforting, it did not ease the pain he felt in his stomach and throat. There wasn’t much in his stomach to throw up, and Keith was soon left gagging and dry heaving, shivering. He swiped at the stream of saliva flowing from his mouth, disgusted with himself.

 “Do you think you’re done?”

He nodded tentatively, then shook his head vigorously as the thought of getting back in the car caused another gag to tear through him and he moaned, clutching at his stomach miserably as fresh tears pooled in his eyes.

Shiro picked him up and moved him to another spot, careful not to jostle him too much, so that Keith wouldn’t fall in his own sick by accident, and held onto his younger brother protectively, glaring at passing cars who slowed down to see the spectacle.

 They sat like that for about half an hour, Keith’s sobs eventually ceasing. Shiro was content to sit and stroke his hands through Keith’s now-sweaty locks, thinking of when he used to have to do this when Keith was younger. A small, tattered voice that was congested from crying brought him from his reverie,

“I-I th-thigk I’m okay n-now, Shiro. Sorry that I’m makigg us so late to the Holts’ house.”

 “Don’t worry about it, buddy. You can’t help it. Can you walk?”

Keith nodded, setting his jaw determinedly before standing up on wobbly legs and walking a few steps before tripping, Shiro caught him before he could fall, opting to pick him up instead of letting him try again.

 As Shiro was tucking Keith into his blanket nest, the younger man’s eyes snapped open frantically,

“Please don’t tell Katie and Matt about this! Katie will make fun of me for forever if you do.”

Shiro smiled fondly,

“I’ll tell them we hit traffic, don’t worry.”


	3. Sniffly, anxious, and freezing in a corn maze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is getting sick while lost in a corn maze with Lance and Pidge, Hunk is worried. I head canon that Hunk is like my friend that functions as my personal space heater because I am always cold XD

“C’mon Lance, it’s starting to get dark. Just let someone else navigate for a while.”

“No! I told you guys I can do this!”

Lance crossed his arms childishly, refusing to let Pidge squeeze past him on the narrow path through the corn. 

Keith rolled his eyes, rubbing his hands up and down his arms where they were folded, trying to generate some heat within his thin sweatshirt. They were supposed to be done with this stupid maze ages ago, and they were still in it. Why had he let Pidge convince him to do this again? He had wanted to go play corn hole with Hunk, Matt, and Shiro, but Pidge and Lance had prodded him until he conceded, and now they were lost in this stupid corn maze. He coughed into his sweatshirt sleeve, receiving a biting remark from Lance for being distracting. He sighed and muffled a few sneezes into near silence as he began to shiver again. He needed his sunshine stat. 

Hunk glanced at his watch nervously, it had been almost two hours since Keith had reluctantly followed Pidge and Lance into the corn maze, and his precious little storm cloud still hadn’t emerged. He’d noticed his boyfriend had been a bit out of it earlier, and, paired with the ever-increasing sniffliness that he seemed to be plagued with, Hunk had drawn the conclusion that his boyfriend was most likely coming down with something. Their relationship had bloomed out of Keith’s almost constant need for heat, which Hunk had more than enough of. Their platonic cuddling had turned into a little more kissing and nuzzling than a normal friendship usually contained, and one day Keith had approached Hunk with a poorly-made bouquet of sunflowers, some of which still had roots clinging to them, and asked Hunk out on a date. From that point on Keith became his gloomy little storm cloud. 

When they finally found their way out of the corn, Keith ran to Hunk, quickly allowing himself to be enveloped in his boyfriend’s warm embrace. 

“Oh, honey, you’re absolutely freezing!” Hunk tutted, stroking his thumb across Keith’s cheek,

“I th-thigk I’m gettig s-sick… I couldn’t stop c-coughig and sdeezig in the maze, add I-I’b so c-cold.” 

Keith shivered, sniffling back the harsh congestion that plagued his voice. Normally he’d deny feeling sick, but he was so glad to be warm again he couldn’t imagine hanging back and being away from Hunk’s warming presence in order to deny his rapidly approaching illness. 

After another look at Keith’s pitiful state Hunk quickly said goodbye to the others, whisked his boyfriend into his arms, and took him straight to the car. 

“You’re staying the night tonight, baby.”

“O-okay.” Keith shivered a bit as Hunk set him in the passenger seat, and Hunk quickly whipped off his jacket and draped it over Keith. 

“I-I’mb sorry for r-ruining the night. Th-this was supposed to b-be fun.”

“Nonsense! You didn’t ruin anything, sweetheart. This just means that I get to cuddle you even more tonight.”  
Hunk beamed at Keith, who couldn’t contain his bright smile as his sunshine boy drove them home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still accepting requests! I'm gonna have so much more free time after my exams end so feel free to send some in on tumblr. (My username is caramelfuzz)


	4. Heith cookie time!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the prompt from kismetkiss on tumblr: You're doing holiday fics with sick Keith? How about Heith with a group cookie making party and Keith getting kicked out because of contagion so he has to sit it out on the couch. Shiro is there too because a) icing and prosthetics don't mix, and b) Shiro isn't allowed to cook. He dozes off and Hunk wakes him with a plate of special cookies and tea just for him. <3

Keith sauntered up to his boyfriend nonchalantly, hiding a small cough behind closed lips and sniffling as discreetly as possible—he didn’t want to infect everyone, honest. He just wanted to watch Hunk work in the kitchen, he was always so happy when he was cooking and seeing Hunk’s bright smile made Keith’s day, and goodness knows he needed something brighter in his day. He felt awful. He’d been sick for the past few days and, naturally, none of the other inhabitants of the castle besides Hunk and Shiro were willing to go near him.

He hid behind Hunk’s back, hugging him from behind and once again trying to sniffle undetected, rubbing his nose into Hunk’s delightfully scented shirt in an attempt to stave off a sneeze.

“ _Hihh-hxxt!_ ” He stifled, cheeks flushing when it produced a sharp squeak that alerted the other paladins of his presence.

“Hey! No sickies in the kitchen! Are you trying to get us all sick???”

Lance shrieked, and Hunk looked over his shoulder sympathetically, mouthing ‘sorry’ as Lance used a space broom to usher Keith into the common area. Keith disguised his hurt under a huff of annoyance, which quickly turned into a painful bout of coughing. He winced as his vision blurred, thankful when he felt a warm hand on his back, guiding him to the couch.

He buried his face into Shiro’s chest, mumbling “b’dot sick, ‘Kashi. It’s just allergies or sobethid’. Please bake Ladce stop sayigg that.”

Shiro could tell from the heat radiating from his brother that his congested statement was indeed false, but he could tell Keith was crying softly at being left out of the festivities with his boyfriend, so he patted his back soothingly instead of pointing out Keith’s blatant lie.

Shiro sighed, melancholy, he used to love baking Christmas cookies back on Earth with the family, but the paladins had quickly learned that his prosthetic arm and baking didn’t really mix—too many particles liable to mess up the fine circuitry—he looked down to see Keith had begun dozing, head dropping forward and snapping back up immediately—it reminded Shiro of when Keith was younger and refused to go to bed on Christmas Eve, always determined to see Santa. Shiro gently guided Keith’s head to his shoulder, surprised when he looked down to see the smaller man’s eyes shoot open.

Keith sat up slightly, breath hitching, “ _hihh…_ Sh-shiro… _hh-hih-Hah…_ W-w _heh_ -where’s Hunk? I r-really wanna c-cuddle right now,” he hitched throughout his small speech, desperately rubbing at his nose to keep the tickles at bay.

“I know you do, buddy. Hunk is working on the cookies right now with the rest of the team.”

Keith snuffled, stubbornly scrubbing at the tears springing to his eyes, “I-I w-wanna help t-too!” He wailed, bending to the side as a harsh bout of coughing assailed his dry throat. He was immediately overcome with the sneezes he’d so cruelly choked back before, “ _Hih-HAH’kXCH! Huh…hih? Hhi’ISHew!_ _NGHchshtt’UH! Hh!_   _Huhh’MNPtshh!_ Ugh…”

He panted in the aftermath of the violent fit, reaching up to swipe at his streaming nose. Shiro quickly passed him a handful of tissues, disappointed when Keith seemed to be in no state to notice the handful of white paper being waved in his face. Shiro begrudgingly pressed the tissues to Keith’s nose when the younger man began to sniffle confusedly, eyeing the mess on his hand and touching his face, recoiling in shock as Shiro palmed his forehead with his other hand.

Shiro tutted when he found Keith to be warmer than he was previously.

“Hey, let me get you some meds, okay? You’re running quite the fever,”

“Do, ‘Kashi… I’ll take that later… b’sleepy right dow…”

Keith slumped over onto Shiro’s shoulder, soft snores filling the air. Shiro could only stroke his head softly and hope that Hunk came back soon to take over caring for his ailing boyfriend.

\---

A short time later, Shiro’s wish was granted. Hunk crept into the room brandishing a tray with an assortment of cookies, as well as a mug of something hot. He gently moved Keith’s head to his own shoulder, smiling and nodding when Shiro motioned questioningly as to whether he was allowed to leave. Hunk gingerly cupped Keith’s flushed cheek in his hand, tutting at the warmth he felt,

“Keith, baby, can you wake up for me? I’ve got some medicine that’s going to make you feel so much better,”

Keith stirred at the sound of his boyfriend’s voice, jerking away from Hunk to muffle a coughing fit into his elbow.

“H-Hudk? What are you doigg here? I th-thought you were bakigg cookies with the others…D-do sickies id the kitched, rebbeber?”

His voice was raspy, and Hunk noticed tears pooling in his eyes, apparently Lance’s words had stung more than Keith had let on.

He passed Keith some tissues,

“Blow your nose, hon. We’re all done making the cookies, love. I brought you some!”

Keith obeyed, abashedly blowing his nose as softly as possible, apparently embarrassed to do so in front of Hunk, and looked at the cookies in wonder.

“I-is that me? And you! We’re so cute!”

Hunk cooed at the way Keith’s eyes lit up at the miniature version of himself, and how they lit up even more when he saw the miniature version of Hunk.

Keith reached for a cookie, dismayed when he was intercepted by Hunk’s gentle grasp pressing some pills into his hand,

“For your fever. Then cookies.”

Keith begrudgingly swallowed the pills with a gulp from the mug which turned out to be a special kind of tea they’d picked up at the space mall that he really liked, much to his delight.

He took the tiny Keith and the tiny Hunk in his hands, examining them closely, then set them back onto the plate so that it looked like they were holding hands.

“I-I can’t eat them…They’re just so cute,”

Hunk giggled and grabbed Keith’s trembling hand, kissing it and pulling the shivery man closer to him and opting to feed Keith a small Christmas tree-shaped cookie instead of the mini-paladin ones he’d made. While Keith was munching, Hunk surprised him with a peck on the lips. The real thing, Keith decided, was much sweeter than any cookie Hunk could ever make.


	5. Nauseous at the New Years Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is lactose-intolerant and accidentally consumes some eggnog. Yeah.  
> (sorry I suck at writing emeto y'all)

_You can do this, Keith. 20 more minutes until you have 5 more hours until midnight. Just keep the talking and moving to a minimum._

Keith’s stomach burbled unhappily throughout his miniature pep-talk. Something was throwing his stomach off, but he couldn’t figure out what.

All he’d eaten at the party so far was chips and salsa, and that had never affected him before. The only thing that really made him nauseous was dairy, but he hadn’t seen anything that had dairy in it at the party.

He shifted as the churning nausea in his stomach increased threateningly, thankfully backing off a little as he clutched his abdomen achingly.

If he could just hold out until midnight then he might be able to sneak off to another room and curl up in misery on his own. He allowed his mind to drift, thinking about anything but his aching stomach, when Lance’s voice rudely pulled him from his reverie.

“Hey, Keith! Come on babe let’s play a game!”

“O-okay.”

He gulped down the saliva pooling in his mouth, _not now, not now! We don’t have time for this! After the game is over we can go be miserable,_ he berated his traitorous body.

Keith reluctantly pulled himself from the semi-comfortable position he’d finally found, and his stomach clenched menacingly, but he swallowed a wince and soldiered on, following Lance to the kitchen table where he grabbed the plastic cup with his name scribbled on it, hopefully something to drink would help settle his stomach. What had he had earlier? He looked toward the large punchbowl… _Eggnog_. _Shit. Of course it’s eggnog._ He could never seem to remember that eggnog had dairy in it. Who names a drink eggnog and then puts milk in it? It made no _sense_ and it was confusing for absent-minded lactose intolerants like himself.

He quickly filled his cup with water, and scrambling into a chair, trying to make himself comfortable as quickly as possible as his stomach once again clenched and gurgled, threatening rebellion if he moved wrong.

“We’re playing monopoly, but you’re not allowed to get angry when I destroy you!”

Lance was smug, but Keith didn’t feel up to maintaining their usual banter.

He feared that if he spoke, the vomit threatening to erupt from his esophagus would win.

He set his jaw, determined to make it until midnight, at _least_ , Lance had been so excited about having someone to kiss after the countdown this year, and Keith would be damned if he was going to neglect his boyfriend of a New Year’s smooch.

He ignored the cramps as he rolled the dice, swallowed hard when he thought he felt a bit of sick climbing up his throat as he was moving his little dog, and powered through the sting of acid in his esophagus as he passed go. By the time they were three hours in, Keith was no longer paying attention to the game, trying to appear disinterested when in reality the nausea was taking over slowly but surely. He only had 2 hours until midnight.

“Keith! It’s your turn! If you don’t wanna play just tell me.”

Lance huffed, clearly annoyed with his spaced-out boyfriend.

“I-I think I’m gonna- _hrk_ -go lay down for a while, I’m kind of tired.”

Keith hurried towards the guest bedroom, desperately hoping the others hadn’t noticed the small gag he’d let slip through his façade.

After shutting the door of the small room behind him, he gingerly laid down on the bed, curling into the fetal position as his stomach clenched with a vengeance. It was clear that he wasn’t going to feel better until he threw some of this up.

He painfully made his way to the bathroom attached to the bedroom, positioning himself above the toilet and bracing himself shakily for the stream of vomit he knew was on the way.

A soft knock was inaudible over the sound of his own retches, but Keith felt soft, warm hands pulling his hair from where it was hanging dangerously close to his mouth, and tying it into a loose ponytail at the base of his head.

After he finished throwing up, Keith spit into the toilet, looking up at Lance with watering eyes,

“What’s going on? Are you sure you’re done?”

Lance asked, brow furrowed in concern as Keith pulled himself up on shaky legs and began splashing cool water onto his sweaty face.

“I’m okay. It was just the eggnog, I always forget that I can’t have it because it has milk in it.” He laughed sheepishly, wincing as another cramp ripped through his abdomen,

“I’m definitely not done yet. You can go back out and join the rest of the party,”

Keith slumped back into position over the toilet, having reluctantly accepted his fate for the night. His body would just keep getting rid of everything until the lactose worked its way out of his system.

Much to his surprise, Lance plopped down next to him, rubbing his back soothingly as a dry heave shook his frame-indicating that the next wave was about to hit.

“Why didn’t you say something, baby?”

Lance crooned,

“Didn’t- _urk_ -want to worry you,”

Keith managed between heaves,

“I’m sorry for ruining New Year’s. I know how much you wanted to be able to kiss someone at midnight.”

Lance was silent until Keith finally looked up, expecting to see his boyfriend’s disappointed look, but instead receiving a firm kiss to the cheek,

“I don’t care about any of that, Keith. I’ll take any excuse I can get to be able to love on you,”

Lance pulled Keith close, smiling as he giggled at Lance’s corniness,

“Happy new year, Keith.”


	6. Keith sick and sneezy in front of Lance's relatives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An anon asked me this: OMG!! Could you maybe write keith sniffly and feverish and maybe a little sneezy in front of lance's relatives and they all end up taking care of him that would be so precious :3  
> So this is kind of like an alternate ending to the other fic I wrote for the holiday prompts where Keith is feverish on the night before Christmas, which is chapter 1 on here, but this time Lance doesn’t notice how sick his boy is ;)  
> It’s also gonna be multiple parts because I really loved this idea XD

“Keith! It’s time to go! You gotta get dressed, baby, then you can sleep in the car, okay?”

Keith groaned, slowly hoisting himself off the couch and stumbling towards the bedroom to change into something more suitable to be outside in.

After changing, he went into the bathroom where his toothbrush was already set out for him. As he brushed his teeth he stared down his reflection, _you can do this. You’re not sick._ He felt a tickle burn in the back of his nose, and he quickly spit and rinsed before jerking into his hands

“ _Ihkgshkk! Hih-HAH’kXCH! Hh…_ _Huhh’MNPtshh! Hh’dtchhh!_ ”

_Okay. You’re only a little sick, but no one else can know. You’ve got this, Keith. You’re a master at hiding your feelings, hiding your symptoms is no different!_

He swallowed some medicine, shoving the rest of the box in his pocket and rushing out to see Lance had already brewed his second cup of coffee, signaling that he was ready to go.

Keith followed Lance out to the car, grabbing the throw blanket he’d slept with the night before for warmth, Lance had a tendency to keep the car a little colder than Keith was comfortable with in order to keep himself alert while driving.

Keith joined Lance in the smallish car, and quickly fell into a deep sleep. Before he knew it, Lance was shaking him awake for breakfast. He could tell Lance could tell something was up, and plastered on a smile through the probably fever-induced haze.

Keith shoveled food into his mouth robotically, sipping on the tea he’d ordered per Lance’s advice against ordering anything caffeinated,

“You’re just gonna be bored if you’re awake the rest of the ride, babe! Plus, you’re gonna be exhausted when we get there if you don’t sleep for at least 8 hours total.”

“O-okay. I’mb gonna rund to the restroom really quick, I’ll beet you ind the car, okay?”

Keith turned on his heel, flushing as he replayed the congested and raspy words he’d just uttered. He eyed his disheveled appearance in the mirror, glaring at the flush high on his cheekbones, and the pale, almost ghostly quality of his skin. He’d need to step up his game if he was going to convince Lance’s family, and Lance himself, that he was fit for their Christmas celebration.

He blew his nose a few times, stuffed a few paper towels into his coat pocket, and headed out to the car. The blasting heat did little to soothe the full body shivers Keith was experiencing, but he braced himself, trying his best not to let them show. He was fairly miserable the rest of the ride there, barely able to contain his symptoms while feigning sleep, though he apparently managed to fall asleep at some point, because he was rudely awoken by something yanking on his hair.

“Uncle Lance! Your boyfriend won’t wake up! Mamá! Uncle Lance killed his boyfriend!”

Keith sat up, rubbing his aching head, and did his best not to shriek as he saw the sea of little eyes staring up at him. Sure, the eyes had faces and bodies attached, but that was what made him want to run away and hide. Keith was about to face his worst fear—human interaction.

Introductions were a blur of smiling faces and bone crushing hugs and handshakes. In a word, it was hell for Keith, but he grinned and bore it because every time Lance got to introduce him to someone new, his face would shine with such pure joy that Keith just couldn’t bring himself to burst his bubble.

Keith was tiring quickly, however, and Lance whisked him upstairs to his childhood bedroom where they would be staying, sitting him down on the bed with a pat on the back and instructions to wait until he got back with their things before going downstairs again.

Keith took the opportunity to quickly down more cold medicine and blow his increasingly runny nose. The trickling feeling caused his nose to be endlessly tickly, and he hitched a few times, hoping that if he was going to sneeze he would do it while he was alone. His body seemed determined to make him as miserable as possible however, and only left him with the unsatisfying burn you feel when you lose a sneeze.

He groaned and flopped onto Lance’s bed, pulling the blankets over himself as he felt an uncomfortable cold seeping into his bones, he had to shake the fever at least, that would be a dead giveaway if Lance went anywhere near his face.

Maybe he’d be too distracted with his family to notice. Hopefully.

Keith zoned out for a little while, jerking awake as the door slammed open

“It’s time for lunch! I hope you brought your appetite because my mamá and abuela have been slaving in the kitchen since 6 this morning!”

Lance left as quickly as he’d arrived, not bothering to shut the door behind him.

Keith groaned and got up, muffling a few painful coughs into his elbow and hoping beyond hope that his body would make this easy for him.

-

Surprisingly, the gigantic feast the McClain women had prepared was thoroughly enjoyed without even a sniffle from Keith, which he chose to believe meant that he was getting miraculously better, and not simply because of the cold meds he’d taken.

Sure, he started fading towards the end, but he still counted his lack of symptoms as a win. Lance, noticing Keith’s increasing weariness, shooed him off to the couch to relax for a while, insisting upon helping his mother with the dishes when she suggested he go with his boyfriend.

-

Keith sat, dozing, on the couch when the pack of children—Lance’s nieces and nephews (and maybe a few cousins?)—that had so rudely awoken him in the car approached.

“You’re really sleepy today, aren’t you?”

Another one elbowed the smallest who’d just spoken to Keith,

“Uncle Lance told us not to wake him up!”

“Yeah, he said that he is grumpy if you wake him up!”

Keith wasn’t sure how to respond, but his body provided an adequate distraction for the children as he was wrenched forward with an enormous sneeze,

“ _ETCHSSHHH!_ ”

The little ones squealed with laughter, while some of the slightly older ones began whispering with one another.

“ _Hhah… Heh-Nngx!_ _Hh’tchiu_! _Hhah_ …. _hhh_ … _nn_ … _hhih_ – _HITCHEW_! _Hiih’Nkxshh!_ ”

Keith snuffled into his forearm, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a paper towel that he’d nabbed from their first stop of the day, only to be halted by tiny hands holding up tissues. He blushingly took them and tended to his nose as quickly and quietly as possible, dismayed when he felt another set of little hands on his face.

“You have a fever,”

One of the older ones tutted, sounding a lot like her uncle.

“I’m gonna have to tell Uncle Lance,”

“Ndo!”

The children jumped, shocked at his desperate attempt to prevent them from telling his boyfriend on him,

“Please, Landce cand’t know that I’m sick, okay? I’ll do anything you guys wandt but please dond’t tell anyone.”

The group looked at one another, exchanging skeptical glances before the eldest turned to Keith,

“Fine, we won’t tell Uncle Lance, but you have to do everything we say,”

Keith nodded, bracing himself for a long list of humiliating tasks from the children, choking back a cough of surprise when he felt himself being pushed into a reclining position on the couch.

“You take a nap. We’ll cover for you.”

Keith lay there, eyes shut, as he felt his hair being pulled away from his face. It felt good, whatever they were doing, and he once again began to doze.

“Hey! What are you gremlins doing to Keith? Ana Gabriela, get away from him! He’s sensitive about his hair. Why would you do that?”

Keith, who had since opened his eyes, felt panic blooming in his chest, if Lance touched his hair it’d be game over for him. He knew he was running a fever and if Lance got too close he would know as well. What was he going to— “No touching! Uncle Lance, Uncle Keith said that I was allowed to make his hair pretty! Just like you do with my dollies!”

Keith flushed at his new title, casting a sheepish grin in Lance’s direction.

“Okay, sweetie. Uncle Keith are you going to be okay on your own for a little while?”

Lance smirked, Keith gulped and nodded, at least the jig was up with the kids, but when Lance was around he had to suppress his symptoms. He could already feel a sneezing fit brewing.

“ _hihh…h’_ **Ng** _T! xGT_ **T** _! nG_ **GG** _T_! _-ng_ **X** _T_! **Xg** _t_!”

He pinched his nose shut, shuddering as the harsh paroxysms aggravated the throbbing in his head. He glanced up with watery eyes as Ana Gabriela held her tiny hand up, signaling for him to keep as quiet as possible,

“Okay, you’re good now.”

“ _huh'E_ **HSCC** _HH'uh!_ _Ih'CH_ **ISS** _SH-xt_!  _‘TSH_ **IEW** _W!_ e _h’n_ **GXTCH** _’uh! Sdff!_ ”

He was panting heavily in the aftermath of the violent fit, when he suddenly realized that he and the children were not alone anymore. Lance’s abuela was standing in the doorway.

“You’re sick.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm taking requests for sick Keith prompts on tumblr! Feel free to hit me up if y'all want to see anything. My url is https://www.tumblr.com/blog/caramelfuzz


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